Namibia: 5 days ordeal in the Namib Desert & wrecks photos | Затерянный в пустыне Намиб

A resident of coastal town Lüderitz was recently found by a police helicopter after surviving five days without food in the remote Sperrgebiet National Park in Namibia.
Andries Niklaaste, who is an employee of the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, said he had dropped off fellow workers at the camp last Friday morning and returned to Lüderitz with intention to refuel his vehicle.

Niklaaste said while driving back to the camp site, the vehicle's headlights started turning off after he had switched them on when it became dark. It forced him to drive without headlights, and he eventually lost direction. The matters turned worse when his vehicle got stuck in the dunes as he drove into a hole due to darkness.

He managed to climb a dune hilltop and phoned one of his colleagues at Lüderitz asking for help. The colleague then informed the local police that Niklaaste had gone missing.

Police reported that Niklaaste's colleagues already started to search for him but to no avail.

Subsequently the police launched a search with a helicopter, and found Niklaaste a day later while he was struggling to climb the dune hilltop again to find cellphone network.

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Botswana: Chitabe Camp, Okavango Delta - photo gallery | Читабе Кемп Ботсвана - фото

Chitabe Camp, Okavango Delta, Botswana

A classic Okavango game-viewing destination

Chitabe Camp is situated in a private concession area on an island in the south-east of the Okavango Delta. Playing host to a breathtaking mosaic of open floodplains, waterways, marshlands, dry acacia and mopane woodland, riverine forest and open grasslands, the area is famed for its incredible numbers and diversity of wildlife, in particular predators.

The camp’s eight spacious Meru-style tents are built on elevated wooden decks amongst trees. Each tent has twin beds, en-suite facilities and an indoor as well as an outdoor shower. The thatched dining, pub and lounge areas are built on raised decks to provide superb views across the floodplain, and a pool allows you to cool off in the heat of the day.

Highlights

A mix of different habitats means an abundance of African wildlife
Wild dogs are often the stars of the show at Chitabe
Each tent has its own character, enhanced by superb wildlife photographs

Barby Guest Farm Namibia | Барби Гест Фарм Намибия

News: Barby Guest Farm: we have finished another building so we boast 5 chalets, with 2 rooms double or twin beds and each chalet has its own bathroom with shower.
We have also added a hunter's hut for people that join us for hunting, we have hosted 2 groups this year and look forward to next year. It is far from the chalets so they can not disturb the guests. They are self-catering with the essential equipment that would be needed.

Our campsites - we have 3 in total and they are big max 15 people per campsite and they all share an ablution block (we call - Fred Flintstone) that has a donkey for hot water, shower and toilet separate, a washing up basin and clothes line. Each camp site has its own BBQ and wash basin.

Attractions:

Working Swakara Farm
Lithops Schwantesii Schwantesii Schwantesii, found on farm
Cordylus Campbelli, lizzard found on farm

Contact: info@namibweb.com

Botswana: Savuti Camp photo gallery | Савути Кемп Ботсвана - фото галерея

#SavutiCampBotswana

Savuti Camp is situated in the private Linyanti Concession along the Savute Channel, famous for the fact that between 1980 and 2008 it stopped flowing altogether, creating an unusual ribbon of grassland. Surprisingly, the Channel began to flow once more, becoming a deep, clear waterway harbouring hippo and aquatic life while wildlife had to adapt to a new source of water and all the opportunities and menaces it brought with it.

This intimate camp's en-suite accommodation is in seven large walk-in tents that are raised off the ground and face onto the Channel. From the camp's thatched dining area, a plunge pool and large viewing area with fire pit extend outwards on raised wooden decks, providing a wonderful view of the water and its wildlife. Contact: info@namibweb.com

Botswana: Savuti Camp newsletter | Савути Кемп Ботсвана

Savuti Camp newsletter

Climate and Landscape
December was a very interesting month at Savuti, weather-wise. Temperatures reached a high of 44° Celsius and a low of 17°, quite normal for December. The surprise lay in the almost 200 mm of rain we received during the month, with a few huge storms unleashing up to 34 mm of rain in a couple of hours!

The rain is a blessed change though, welcomed by everyone in the bush. The area is at its greenest at this time of the year and needless to say it looks beautiful. With the presence of recently refilled waterholes everywhere the animals seem much more relaxed and approachable, especially the elephants.

Savuti Camp December 2014

Wildlife
Despite the thick, lush Linyanti vegetation, we had some amazing sightings this month, starting with one of the largest painted dog packs the Linyanti has seen in a long time. The Zib Pack (which has 12 adults and 13 juveniles) was seen taking down numerous impala during the course of one day!

We also noticed that new lions have moved into the area around camp – they were happily caught on camera, drinking water and lazing around.

We also enjoyed some marvellous sightings of hyaena, including a single hyaena fatally injured by what looked like a swipe from a lion, as well as a pack of some seven or more hyaena following a breeding herd of elephant, harassing them and trying to separate a small baby from the herd.

This was a rather unsuccessful month for warthog piglets as all the predators seemed to be on a pork diet. We saw everything from lion to leopard and wild dog take down piglets on various occasions. There are times when the ways of nature do seem cruel, do they not?

On a brighter note, we had some great sightings of roan antelope on our airstrip road. They are such magnificent creatures… until you notice their donkey ears!

After all that, the sighting of the month was of an aardvark! One very lucky family decided to do a night drive – and found themselves at the perfectly right place at the right time. Only much later upon their arrival back in camp did they realise what a rare and thrilling sighting they’d had!

Savuti Camp wildlife December 2014

Birds and Birding
We say it all the time, but summer time – the ‘wet season’, the ‘green season’ – truly is the best time for birding. December offers amazing opportunities for photographing our beautiful and amazing migrants against the most dramatic backdrops of the greenest green trees and the bluest blue skies!
Birds like the African fish-eagle and osprey always captivate our guests’ attention while other birds like the various kingfishers and carmine bee-eaters simply leave our guests mesmerised. It doesn’t matter whether or not you are interested in birds when you arrive at Savuti, we guarantee that by the time you leave they will be among the top highlights of your awesome African safari.

Camp News
On 22nd of December we held a Christmas party for the staff in camp. There were volley ball matches and tug-of-war and later in the evening the staff got decked out in their pretty dresses and suits to enjoy a musical night with the choir singing and, after dinner, dancing, as DJ Oscar took the stage.

Camp Activities
On Christmas day, we set up a beautiful tree, African style, (dry bush with lovely decorations), set up the main dining area and entertained our guests with a recital by the ‘famous’ Savuti choir. We had placed Christmas crackers on the table and with a loud bang all our guests pulled them simultaneously. The guests thoroughly enjoyed their Christmas celebrations!

Upholding the tradition of the past few years, it rained on New Year’s Eve, washing away our wonderful plans for a sundowner bush dinner. However, the resourceful people of Savuti made a plan to ensure guests had a truly memorable time seeing out 2014 and welcoming 2015!

Namibia: saving Kalahari elephant

Namibian businessmen have recently stepped in to save an male #elephantroaming commercial farms that had been identified as a "problem animal" and was to be shot.

"We want to avoid what happened last year when a wild elephant moved into commercial farm areas from Eastern Namibia and was shot dead by officials from the Ministry of Environment and Tourism (MET)," said Alex McDonald, owner of an agricultural business.

"I engaged a few business people to collect some funds to move the elephant to a safer area like a nature park.

"We have now set up a trust fund via a lawyer and donations are coming in."

He said an application was made to the MET for permission to relocate the elephant to a safer area.

The elephant is believed to have entered Namibia from Botswana's Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park shared with Namibia, last week.

He was first sighted at the Kalahari Game Lodge near the border with Botswana.

"The elephant was very, very thirsty and drank a lot of water," said Divan Dreyer of the lodge.

The MET said on Wednesday it had first decided to kill the elephant but will now allow it to roam.

"Damages to [farm] properties were confirmed by our dispatched officials. In accordance with applicable legislation the elephant was declared as a problem-causing animal and a decision was therefore taken to destroy it."

The ministry however backtracked.

"The MET has received a request from some farmers to capture, release and transfer ownership of this elephant to them which the ministry could not do for various reasons," it stated in the same statement.

No reasons were given.

"These farmers indicated that no serious damage is caused by this elephant. The ministry has now decided to let the elephant roam the area without any intervention."

Once it causes serious damages, the ministry would have "no choice but to destroy the elephant," according to the statement.

Namibia: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's support of Naankuse

Movie stars Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have contribued to support of a Namibian private wildlife sanctuary - Naankuse with a new enclosure for endangered cheetahs, according to the sanctuary.

“Five of your seven magnificent cheetahs are strolling into their new seven-hectare enclosure, purring their appreciation for the Jolie-Pitts,” according to the Naankuse Foundation's newsletter.

“We hope one day to be able to show Shiloh [Jolie-Pitt's child] the piece of paradise she created”.

Shiloh Jolie-Pitt is the firstborn of actors’ three biological children , with the pair also having three adopted children.

Namibia: Otavi B&B - cheap accommodation in Otavi & photos | Отави ББ Намибия

#OtaviB&BNamibia. It has 5 rooms available. Three double rooms with twin beds and 2 huge family rooms. Our rooms are tidy and sunny.  Also a huge living room with table to eat, fridge, place to sit and watch television. One big bathroom with shower and bath.

The family rooms have their own bathrooms and a table with chairs to eat in your own privacy.

This is ideal for a group of people traveling North and also for people working in the Otavi area.

We can accommodate up to 14 people at once.

We offer Breakfast and Dinner set menu.

Wi-Fi, fridge and DSTV (all channels) are included in the price.

We guarantee lowest prices in and around Otavi.

Contact: info@namibweb.com

Air Namibia: Walvis Bay to Cape Town new route

Air Namibia announced new Walvis Bay to Cape Town route

Namibia: Sea Horse Swakopmund - photos

Sea Horse Swakopmund

SELF CATERING APARTMENTS AND GUEST HOUSE.
BEACH-FRONT ACCOMMODATION WITH SEA VIEWS IN VOGELSTRAND, SWAKOPMUND
We are an upmarket self-catering establishment, featuring 8 fully equipped and well-appointed self-catering units.
Situated in a quiet and upmarket neighbourhood in
Swakopmund, with the beach literally one minutes’ walk away. Although all units are self-catering arranged and equipped, we do offer breakfast, lunch and dinner on request. We can also do conferences, catering arrangements for any business group/company or organisation. We offer free safe and secure on-site and off-site parking to our guests.
Complimentary high speed WI-FI is available to all registered guests. Daily housekeeping service, and laundry service available upon request.

Address:
4 Bernstein Street, 9000, Swakopmund, Namibia
E-mail: info@namibweb.com